Suction gas plant and engine.



T. H. OSWALD & T. H. OSWALD, JR.

SUCTION GAS PLANT AND ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1909.

Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

. H. OSWALD & T. H. OSWALD, JR.

SUCTION GAS PLANT AND ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1909.

Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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IHOMAS HEATH OSWALD AND THOMAS HEATH OSWALD, JR., OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SUCTION GAS PLANT AND ENGINE.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS HEATH Os- WALD and THOMAS l'lEATl-I OSWALD,Jr, subjects of the King of Great Britain, and residents of 153Fenchureh street, London, in the county of Middlesex, England, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Suction Gas Plants and Engines,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to power producing plants for use on board shipand the like, and it has more particular reference to that type of plantcomprising a gas producer apparatus and an engine or engines adapted foroperationby means of the gas generated by the said producer apparatusand employed for propelling or auxiliary purposes.

Plants of the kind above referred to, as heretofore constructed andarranged, have all proved more or less objectionable and disadvantageousin use owing to the great difliculty experienced in maintaining anadequate or unlimited supply of fresh water for use in the gas producerapparatus.

lhe object of our invention is to overcome the foregoing seriousdisadvantage by providing a power producing plant which isself-contained, or, in other words, is adapted for continuous working,inasmuch as the necessary supply of fresh water is produced and steadilymaintained, by the plant itself, thereby obviating the necessity forseparate fresh water storage tanks.

Our invention principally consists in utilizing the waste heat of thegases exhausting from the engine cylinder or cylinders, as well as theheat carried off from such cylinders by the cooling water circulatingthrough the cylinder jackets, for the purpose of evaporating sea Waterand converting it into fresh water for use in the process of generatingsuction or power gas.

The present improvements further consist in the general arrangement andcombination of the various parts constituting our improved apparatus forpower producing purposes.

In order that our invention may be clearly understood wewill nowdescribe the same Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 12, 1909.

?atented Mar. "3, 1911. Serial No. 501,802.

bodying our improvements, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the same.

According to the form of apparatus illustrated, 1 is the feed hopper forthe gas generator 2 which is connected to the vaporizing chamber 3 inany of the well known ways, preferably by a pipe 5 leading from thebottom of the vapor-Ming chamber 3 to the bottom of the generator 2below the grate bars.

4, 4: are the scrubbers which are preferably filled with coke, and theformer'is in communication with the generator 2 through the connectingpipe 5, which passes through the vaporizing chamber.

6 is the outlet pipe leading from the top of the first scrubber 4 to thebottom of the second scrubber at, and 7 is the gas main from saidscrubber 4 to the storage chamber 8 for the engines.

9, 9, are the connecting pipes from the chamber 8 to the enginecylinders.

The gases exhausting from the engine cylinders are conveyed away by theforked pipe 10 to the salt water evaporator 11 and through which theyare circulated.

12 is the conduit or discharge pipe for the steam generated in theevaporator 11 to the condenser 13 which is arranged in close proximityto, as well as in connection with, the fresh water storage tank 14.

15 is a supply pipe from the tank 14 conveying fresh water to thevaporizing chamber 3 above referred to, and it is preferably fitted withan outflow regulating valve.

16 is a circulating pump of any approved type for circulating thecooling water through the condcnserand impelling it onward into thescrubbers 4, 4, for cooling purposes, and v17, 17 are respectivelyconnecting pipes from said pump 16 to the condenser 13 and from thelatter .to the said scrubbers 4, 4".

Air is admitted into the vaporizing chamber 3 at 18, and 19 is aconnecting pipe from a suitable fan or fans-not shown-for creatingadraft in the generator 2.

20 is the exhaust outlet for the spent gases circulating through theheating chamber of the salt water evaporator 11, and 21 is adischargepipe extending into the vaporizing chamber 3, and connected at one endto the pipe 5, and at its other end extending into the atmosphere or theships funnel. Thls pipe is provided with a cock, notshown, the

pipe forming an open communication, through the cock referredto, whenthe plant is standing or when the fire is being started and blown up bythe fan referred to, but which pipe is closed through the cock when theplant is running.

-From the foregoing it will'be seen that by arranging the sea-waterevaporator 11 in close proximity to the engine so that the exhaustpassages leading from said engine cylinder or cylinders are connectedwith and open to the heating surface of said evaporator, the hot gasesexhausted from the cylinder or cylinders will raise the temperature ofthe water contained in the evap-. orator 11 to the necessary degree forconverting it into steam, which is subsequently condensed into freshwater in the condenser 13.

The combination and arrangement of the engine or engines with theevaporator 11 is also such that the sea water passed through the clinder jacket or jackets as cooling water is subsequently utilized forpurposes of evaporation by being passed through the pipe 1O into theevaporating chamber, where it is evaporated and finally condensed asabove set forth. I

By combining the evaporator 11 with the condenser 13 and connecting thelatter with a steam generator and a vaporizing chamber 3 through whichpasses the connecting pipe 5 from the gas generator 2 to the scrubber 4it is insured that the fresh-water contacting with said connecting pipe5 becomes vapor-- ized by the heat radiating therefrom, the vapor soproduced being mixed with air entering at 18 ready for passage to thegas generating furnace by any suitable pipe connection illustrated indotted lines at 5 The arrangement of the condenser 13 in combinationwith the scrubbers 4, 4' provides an effective means for utilizing thecooling water flowing from said condenser 13 for cooling and washing thegas passing through the scrubber.

Although We have outlined one form of apparatus for carrying out ourinvention we wish it to be clearly understood that we .do not confineourselves to the particular arrangement and combination of partsdescribed and shown as the disposition of the sea water evaporatorrelative to the engine or engines, condenser, vaporizing chamber, orproducer furnace, the condenser relative to the scrubbers, and so forth,may be consider ably varied to meet different working conditions, aswell as to adapt the general arrangement of the whole apparatusaccording to the location of the engines without in any way departingfrom the nature of our improvements.

It is furthermore to be clearly understood that we lay no claim to anyparticular part or separate portion of the entire apparatus by itself,all ofwhich may be varied according to well known forms and types, butthat our invention consists essentially in the general arrangement andcombination of parts for the purposes set forth.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. In an apparatus, of the character described, the combination of a gasgenerator, a scrubber, a gas storage chamber, a conduit from saidscrubber to said gas storage chamber, an evaporator, a condenserconnected with said evaporator, a fresh water storage chamber connectedwith. said condenser,

evaporator and said condenser, means for introducing water to saidevaporator, means 'fOI heating said evaporator, means for circulatingcooling water through said condenser, a conduit between said condenserand said vaporizer, a conduit between the cooling jacket of saidcondenser and said scrubber, and means for introducing fresh air to saidvaporizer, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a gasgenerator,

a scrubber, an internal combustion engine,

a conduit from said scrubber to said engine, an evaporator comprising aheating chamber and an evaporating chamber, a condenser connected withsaid evaporating chamber, a fresh water storagechamber connected withsaid condenser, means circulating cooling water through said condenser,means for conducting said cooling water to said scrubber, means forleading the cooling water from the water jacket of said engine to saidevaporating chamber, and means for heating said evaporator heatingchamber, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a gasgenerator, a scrubber, an internal combustion engine, a conduit fromsaid scrubber to sald engine, an evaporator comprising a heating chamberand an evaporating chamber, a condenser connected with said evaporatingchamber, a fresh water storage chamber connected with said condenser,means circulating cooling water through said condenser, means forconducting said cooling water to said scrubber, means for leading thecooling water from the water jacket of said engine to said evaporatingchamber, and a conduit leading the exhaust gases from said engine to theheating chamber of said evaporator, said heating chamber being providedwith an exhaust outlet, substantially as described.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of agenerator, a vaporizer, a scrubber, an explosive engine, an evaporatorhaving a water and a heating chamber, and a condenser having a coolingjacket, a conduit between said scrubber and said explosive engine forleading gas thereto, a conduit between the water jacket of said engineand the Water chamber of said evaporator for introducing partiallyheated water therein, a conduit leading from the exhaust of said engineto said heating chamber, said heating chamber being provided with anoutlet for the exhaust gases, a conduit between said water chamber andsaid condenser for carrying the generated steam thereto, means forsupplying and'circulating cooling water through the Water jacket of saidcondenser, a conduit for conducting porizer and causing the Watertherein to vaporize and mix with said air, and means conducting saidmixture of vaporized water and air to said generator, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combination, in power producing plants, of a gas generator, avaporizing chamber connected therewith, a scrubber connected with saidgenerator through said vaporizing chamber, an internal combustionengine, agas storage chamber for the cylinders of said engine, a conduitbetween said scrubber and gas storage chamber, a salt water evaporatingchamber, a conduit between the water jacket of said gas engine and saidevaporating chamber, means for heating said evaporating chamber by theexhaust gases from said engine, a condenser in communication with saidevaporating chamber, .a fresh waterstorage tank in connection with saidcondenser, means for circulating cooling water through said condenserand discharging same into said scrubbers, and means for supplying air tosaid vaporizing chamber and said generator, substantially as described.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of twoWitnesses.

THOMAS HEATH OSWALD.

THOMAS HEATH OSWALD, JR.

\Vitnesses ARTHUR E. EDWARDS, D. K. BOYLE.

